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Narcissus and Echo
Narcissus was such a handsome young man that everyone who saw him fell in love with him. But he was not interested in love. No young woman was good enough for him. Wherever he went, women tried to tempt him, but he just told them to go away.
Nymphs also fell in love with the gorgeous Narcissus. Among them was a lovely nymph called Echo. Hera, on an expedition to discover which of the nymphs was Zeus's latest love, was diverted by Echo's chatter until all the nymphs had fled. As a result, Hera, annoyed with Echo and herself, decreed that, "From now on you will not be able to say one word on your own. You will only be able to repeat the last few words of what another person has said."
Now Echo was at an even greater disadvantage in trying to persue Narcissus. The young man had paid no attention to her before, when she called him. Now she could only sadly repeat his words when he talked to her. "Go away," he would say. "Away," poor Echo would moan. "Leave me alone," Narcissus would cry. "Alone," Echo would repeat.
Eventually Echo became so saddened and embarrassed by her situation that she hid in mountain groves and caves, where, even today, she still answeres travelers' calls by repeating their last words.
Meanwhile, Narcissus had finally found someone he could love. He had looked into a pool of clear water and seen his own face gazing back at him: the most beautiful face he had ever observed. When he realized that he could love no one but himself, he pined away and died of a broken heart. (According to another version, he became so fascinated with his image in the lake that he leaned over too far, fell in, and drowned. And in another he killed himself with a dagger.)
The nymphs whome he had scored were so saddened by his death that they sought his body and buried him near the pool where he had seen his own face. On his grave a beautiful flower appeared. It was named after him: narcissus.
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